Can I half my monjuro dose myself?

[Mamaxo]

I’m on 7.5 for the last 2/3 weeks and I’m having awful side effects, constipation, rib and stomach pain, sulphur burps, but on 5mg I had no side effects at all, I’m going to move back down to 5mg at next appointment but I have two doses of 7.5 left and there so expensive now (£270 a month) I really don’t want to waste them. Is there anyway of using the last two doses without having the full 7.5? Hope this makes sense 😂

40 clicks on a 7.5mg pen is 5mg

Yes - I have done it and my friend always does it

Agree with @FatBottomGirlz but wanted to add, if you take 2 x 5mg you'll still have 5mg in the pen that you will be able to take without needing to use a separate syringe and within the timescale for use of the pen once opened.
Bearing this in mind, if the cost of 7.5 is similar to 5 I'd stick with the 7.5, take 5, get more doses out and save some money. You'd get 6 doses out of a 7.5 pen without needing a separate syringe. This would take you slightly outside the 30 day timeframe, but since the timeframe used to be 50 days anyway I don't think you'd come to any harm.

Hi. I'm interested in finding out more about your post "the timeframe used to be 50 days anyway".
I'm considering extending beyond 30 days. Any info/advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

I extend all the time to around 7 weeks. I buy a 5mg pen & take 2.5. Absolutely nothing adverse has happened, suppression is great and I’ve not had a side effect. Pen is in the fridge. Done this for 5 months

I don’t know when or if the manufacturer expiry time limit was 50 days. It’s been 30 days since I’ve been taking Mounjaro, since summer last year. It was only available in the UK for about 6 months before that and I don’t recall seeing an expiry time limit of 50 days in that time frame either.

@DietingForDecadesThe fact is that no one can advise that it is safe and without issue to use a pen past the 30 days. You need to be aware of the possible risks, and then decide for yourself if you are ok with that and how to try to mitigate those risks.

Thank you.

@DietingForDecades I've been taking it since October last year, and the timeframe has been 30 days throughout that, but I'm aware it was initially longer from some discussion on the October 24 starters thread.
The gist of it is that the actual drug is fine way beyond the 30 day mark, but the risk comes from the fact that once the pen has had a needle attached the contents are no longer sterile (that's why you clean the end of the pen with the swab before attaching the needle, to avoid introducing any contaminants into the drug in the pen), so potentially nasties could start to grow in there.
So I wouldn't advise you to extend the usage indefinitely, as there is a risk.
Personally I think that there will be a safety margin built in to the recommendation to discard after thirty days, and would be therefore happy to use an extra dose slightly after the thirty days (especially since I keep my pen in the fridge anyway), but wouldn't go beyond that one extra dose.
I would qualify that by saying I'm not medically qualified, and just some random on the internet,and what I would do isn't necessarily right for you.

@igivein I have been on MJ since June 24 and can assure you that at no point since then has there been any suggestion of the pen being usable for 50 days. I would say that whoever was spouting that on an October thread was misinformed.

OP, it really is up to your sense of risk. I would personally be happy to use 40 clicks on the pen to get 5mg and then to use an insulin syringe to extract any surplus. (In fact, I have always got 0.8ml out of my pens so that would equal at least 2 more 5mg doses!).

This of course goes against the manufacturer’s guidelines and is not how the pen is prescribed to be used.

Thank you everyone for your helpful advice.
Much appreciated.

@igivein Just echoing @SilenceInside and @IReallyNeedThisToWork - the Mounjaro pens have NEVER had a 50 day in use period and whoever is quoting that is either mistaken or worse stating their opinion as fact.

This is one of the downsides of the monthly starter threads is all it takes is one Del Boy who got their pharmacy qualifications from the School of Reddit and the whole thread of new users is, potentially harmfully, misinformed about their prescription medication.

Earlier last year there was a lot of confusion as Mounjaro was released in UK, popularity exploded and lots of pharmacies started providing it. Many pharmacies were reacting quickly to the opportunity and were pretty poor with their websites, some seemed to have copy/pasted FAQs from US pens, or Wegovy etc pens onto their websites - information that was blatantly wrong - but some people like to remember the information that suits them rather than facts.

There was also a period where Expiry (not in use) dates were being extended on pens as Eli Lilly had completed further testing. Which caused the usual conversations around if the Expiry date can be longer then that means the in use date can be longer too but they are not telling us 🙈

The official Eli Lilly documentation has ALWAYS said 30 day in use period.

If you hear anything on social media outside of current guidelines you should validate it with a credible source before repeating the nonsense (that we all would like to be true) as fact.

Thank you for the helpful guidance. Appreciate it.

Well that's me told! (sorry)

@Mamaxo What the others say... But also there are much cheaper providers - I pay 239 for 10mg!